Hummingbird experiment

[Joel Eade]

I am attempting to shoot hummingbirds with a combination of multiple flashes and ambient light so that some of the natural background and some of the wing motion is seen, this is one of my first attempts.

1D MKIII + 300mm 2.8L + 580 EXII on camera + two 430 EXII's remotely triggered
1/160
f/8.0
iso 320
flashes on manual 1/16 power

Any comments, critique or suggestions welcomed

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

Great beginning, i too wish to learn this technique, care to share?
TFS
Don

[Alfred Forns]

Looks great Joel I like this look better than the five or more flash set up !! Don't know if you had some that the flash did not fire but wonder how much the flash had to do with overall image !! Looking forward to more !!! There is a hummer guide written by Linda which you can get through Arthur... excellent !!!

[Joel Eade]

The flash is definitely contributing because I turned them off and took a test shot which was very underexposed, also you can see a little detail in the wing. Without flash at 1/160 it would be a total blur. Working in manual mode the only thing I did was continually adjust the iso and f stop to get the effect, I left the shutter speed alone. I had several underexposed shots but also a few good ones.

[Lance Peters]

:)
Would like to learn also Joel - Only problem is you are going to need to ship me some Hummers :)
Please do share your technique.

[Mark Young]

Lovely combination of in focus head and oof wings.